Coffin-fastening device



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GOFFIN FASTENING DEVIGB.

I Patented Se'pt. 20,1887.

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W. HA'MILTON- GOPFIN ASTENING DEVIGB.

Patented Sept. 20', 1887,

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' ATENT WILLIAM HAMILTON, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

COFFIN-FASTENING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 370,331, datedSeptember 20, 1887.

Application filed January 10, 1587. Serial No. 223,915. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HAMILTON, of the city of Allegheny, in thecounty of Alleghenyand StateofPennsylvania,haveinvented a new and usefulImprovement in Coffin-Fastening Devices; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

The main object of my invention is to provide improved means forattaching the lids of caskets to the tops in such a way that thefastening devices may be used as a hinge, and

that the lid may be raised thereon' from either side. It often happensin the management of funerals in small houses that caskets with hingedlids are inconvenient, because of the interference of the lid, whenraised, with the furniture of the room, it being customary to have thefoot of the casket directed toward the door. I obviate this difficultyby constructing caskets with hinged lids which may be open from eitherside.

It also has for its object to provide a simple and easily-operated lockfor the coffin-lid.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is avertical longitudinal sectionthrough the lid and side of the casket, showing my improvement. Fig. 2is a vertical cross-section on the lineg/y of Fig. 1, showing the lid,when raised, in dotted lines. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section ,on theline z z of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a. vertical section on the line x x ofFig. 2, showing the lid raised. Fig. 5, Sheet 2, is averticalcross-section showing my improved fastening device applied to both sidesof the casket, the sections being similar to the sections shown in Fig.2.

Like symbols of reference indicate like parts in each figure.

In the drawings, 2 indicates the casket, and 3 is the lid or top. Theupper edges of both sides of the casket are provided with my improvedhinge and lock device, and as they are substantially the same inconstruction I shall first describe a single side, and shall thenindicate the relation of the devices on both sides to each other. Theupper edge of the casket is provided with a longitudinal groove, 4, in

` which groove lie the lock-rods 5 and 6. The

tric 7, which is mounted in a suitable lock- Case, 8, and is providedwith an arbor or spindle, 9, projecting to the outside of the casket.

At the end of the spindle 9 is a suitable key or handle, 10, by whichthe eccentric may be turned. This key is either permanently fastened tothe arbor or it may be removable, if desired. The adjustment of the rods5 and 6 to the opposite arms of the eccentric 7, as shown in thedrawings, is such that turning the spindle 9 in one direction shallcause the motion of the rods in a right line toward each other, and thatturning the spindle in the other direction shall cause an oppositedivergence ofthe rods. The rods are provided with springs 11, whichencircle them and bear upon the lock-case 8, and upon pins orprojections 12 on the rods, so that the springs shall exert an outwardforce upon the rods.

13 are sockets or holes which are made in the edge of the casket at theextremities of the rods 5 and 6. These sockets are preferably guardedand strengthened by keepers 14, which are suitably fitted on the upperedge of the casket. is that shown in the drawings. Each-consists of aiiat bolting-plate, which is screwed to the caskets edge, and has on itsunder side a tubular casing, a, which projects downward into the socket13. In the side of the-casing a, next to the end of its proper rod, 5 or6, is a small hole, into which the rod is adapted to enter. When thespindle 9 is turned to retract the rods 5 and 6, they are drawn out ofthe holes in the casing a; but when the spindle is released the springsl1 project the rods through the holes into the bores of the sockets.

On the under side of the casket-lid, near its outer edge, are smallplates 15, corresponding in number and location with the sockets on thecoffin. Each of these plates 15 is hinged to a bolting-plate, 16, thelatter being bolted to the lid. On the outer side of each plate 15 is avertically-projecting boss or knob, 17, which, when the plate 15 isfolded back upon its bolting-plate 16, projects vertically downward fromthe lid, as shown in Fig. 2, and when the y plate 15 is turned on itshinges at right angles The preferable form of the keepers IOO with `16the boss 17 is in substantially the same plane with the lid, Fig. 4. Theboss 17 is provided with a hole, b, which extends into or man. Forexample, the parts may be transthrough it, and the several bosses areadapted posed, the parts of the fastening device,which to t into thesockets 13 of the keepers 14 in 1 I have shown on the coffin, being puton the the edge of the casket, so that the holes b shall register withthe holes in the sides of the casing c of the corresponding sockets.(See Fig. 4.) As before stated, both sides of the coffin are similarlyprovided with the devices which I have described. Both parts of the lidare also provided with the parts 15, 16, and 1.7. Suppose, now, that thelid is placed iiat upon the top of the casket, and that the plates 15are in contact with the bolting-plates 16, and the bosses 17 are fittedinto the sock ets 13, and that the rods 5 and 6 on both sides of thecasket are projected by their springs through the sides of the socketsinto the holes bin the bosses 17, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The lidwill then be locked securely on both sides, and cannot be removed untilthe rods are Withdrawn from the sockets and bosses.

If, now, it is desired to open the` lid, the operation is'as follows:The spindle 9'on one side of the casket is turned so as to retract itsrods 5 and 6 from the sockets 13 and from the bosses 17. This releasesone side of the lid, which can then be raised, because the bosses 17 onthe other side of the casket, fitting into the sockets, hold the plates15, and enable the lid to be raised on the axes of the hinges 4whichconnect the plates 15 with the bolting-plates 16. It is obvious,therefore, that the'lid can be raised from either side, thc parts on oneside, when connected,acting as a hinge on which the casket-lid can vbeturned, and when both sides are fastened, as when first described, thelid is rmly held in its'place on the top ofthe casket. Vhen the parts onboth sides of the casket are disconnected, the lid may be removedaltogether. This feature of my invention is one of great convenience tothe undertaker.

Another mode of applying my improvement is to arrange one side of thelid and casket with the hinge-lock, as shown in Fig. 1, and applying tothe other side any suitable fastening device or lock. Then the lid canalways be raised on its hinge in one direction, and may be removedaltogether by detaching the hinge by operation of the spindle 9 and cam7, as already described.

I do not desire to limit myself to the exact form of the devices which Ishow and describe, since they may be altered by the skilled worklid, andthe parts on the lid put on the coffin; but

1. The combination of the lid, the casket, and a hinge consisting of twoleaves permanently hinged together, one of said leaves being fixed tothe lid, and a movable bolt or lock which engages the other leaf,whereby the latter leaf is detachably secured to the casket,substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. The combination of the lid 3, the plate 15, hinged to the lid andhaving a projecting stud or boss, the casket 2, having a socket adaptedto receive said boss, and a movable bolt or lock-rod arranged to engagethe boss in the socket, substantially as and for the purposes described.

3. The combination of the lid 3,\the plate 15, hinged to the lid andhaving a projecting stud or boss, the casket 2, having a socket adaptedto receive said boss, a movable bolt or lock-rod arranged to engage theboss in the socket, and an eccentric for retracting said bolt orlock-rod, substantially as and for the purposes described. e

4. The combination of the lid 3, the plate 15, hinged thereto and havinga projecting stud or boss, the casket 2, having a socket provided with ahollow casing, a, adapted to receive said boss, said casing having alateral hole, and a movable bolt or lock-rod arranged to enter thesocket through the hole in the casing and to engage the boss therein,substantially as and for the purposes described.v

5. The combination of the lid 3, having plates 15 hinged to both sidesthereof, and hav- WILLIAM HAMILTON. Witnesses:

W. B. CORWIN, T HoMAs WL BAKEWELL.

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